What will you see today?

by Deann Barlow on September 22, 2012

look for bikes sticker in a San Francisco Cab

I often travel to San Francisco for work and have just returned from another trip. Traveling is great because it allows one to observe how things are done outside your daily existence bubble. I think Minneapolis has a lot of great bicycling opportunities; I benefit from many of them all the time. But when I travel I like to know that the people who live in the city's I visit are also benefiting from an ever evolving awareness of the importance of bicyclists in their city. I used to work in San Francisco and I commuted across the Golden Gate Bridge to SOMA. Back in the day my work colleagues and I who commuted to work by bicycle were definitely in the minority. There were no bicycle lanes where I rode and one of my colleagues was hit by a taxi while riding to work and suffered the after effects of a head injury for months. San Francisco was in the grip of someone trying to impede progress and awareness. But now that the grip was released, with each returning trip I see San Francisco cyclists and bicycle lanes increasing exponentially.

Travel is good because it gives us perspective. I feel lucky to be a bicyclist in Minneapolis; I benefit from bicycle thoughtfulness and forward thinking from others who came before me. Observing bicycling in other cities gives me an awareness of what I see in my own city. Perspective helps us to take note (for good or bad). As I see the United States continue to embrace bicyclists, I also know things could always be better, we could always do more. That is why I am involved with the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition.